A Shadow's Path
by LizLor
Summary: Shadow, a shy bird girl, usually keeps to herself and stays true to her name as a shadow. That all changes when she encounters a dieing boy in the woods, and feels compelled to help him. But it turns out, saving the boy puts the whole flock in danger. R
1. Shadow's Letter

This is my first story on fanfiction. The next chapter will be longer, for now, I just wanted to introduce you to the main characters. Hope you like it! R&R

Lizzie Lor

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Dear reader,

Uh…I don't really know how to do this. They just told me to write stuff down, and well writing isn't really my forte, you know? I'm more of a fighting, and blending in sort of girl. From what I've been told, I'm pretty good at it. This other stuff (like writing my feelings down) not so much. They told me it would be good for us, the flock. But I'm not so sure anymore. I can't be sure about anything.

Is this good for us? Can we be secure here? Will we be _safe_?

You should know that by _us_ I mean my flock. They told me to write everything down right? So I'll start here.

The flock… it's hard to explain us. We're… well sort of special. I'm still trying to decide if that's good or bad, and- believe me- I've had all my fourteen years to decide. So, I can start off by telling you the most shocking thing-drum role please- we have wings. Yep, told ya we were special. All four of us (me, my twin Shade, the hot headed Shift, and our leader, Arrow) have huge wings sprouting from our backs.

We could say it was a freak accident, but the truth is real people did this to us. Shade and I were born this way, but Shift and Arrow; well they had to go through the pain of having wings grafted onto their backs. Our wings aren't the only things that make us different, we have other powers. I can get to that later. Right now, I should start telling you my story, so keep reading. See what horrors we've been through.

Fly on,

Shadow


	2. Nightmares Are Not My Style

Okay, so here's Chapter 1. I really like how this chapter came out. While I was writing it, it felt like it just flowed out of my finger tips and I let my fingers do the typing for me. Kind of dorky, huh? So, I hope everyone likes this!

- Liz Lor

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A Shadow's Path

Chapter 1: Nightmares Are Not My Style

I have to admit, I'm sort of girly- in a kick butt kind of way. Clothes, hair, cute guys, it's just my thing. I'm the kind of person who goes and looks in a mirror when ever I pass one, to make sure everything is perfect and in place. I like to go to malls, even if it's just to window shop, and I always try doing my hair just right. Even though I am girly, I'm not one to flaunt it. I try to make sure no one notices me. After all, they call me the Shadow for a reason- can anyone else see the irony in that? I'm always the one behind the stage, taking care of the star of the show, never on the stage pouring my heart out in any form or way. I'm so used to not being seen, that my worst nightmare _is_ to be seen. It's kind of pathetic right?

I was on the stage, looking out at a sea of faces. Multi color lights turned my skin all sorts of iridescent colors. Even without a mirror, I knew what I looked like. My clothes seem like they came out of a fashion magazine, and my hair was done so that my black curls looked glossy and perfect. My eyelashes were long and full, making my emerald eyes stand out more than ever. I didn't quite look like a model, but I was close to it. But even though wearing the latest clothes and looking like a super model was every girls- and my- biggest dream, I would've given everything just to be invisible.

The crowd out in front of me was chanting my name, all the people yelling toward me at once. I couldn't see any distinction in any of the faces in front of me. Each one blurred in with the next. Just seeing the sheer mass of people was making me break out in a cold sweat, which then ruined my make up,- where's water proof mascara when you need it? I wanted to run off the stage, but my feet just wouldn't budge.

Then, the worst thing possible happened, the crowd started to tell me to sing! When I was younger, I wouldn't have minded singing. I used to have a beautiful voice- not that I'm full of my self or anything. But in the lab that I was born in- yes I was born in a lab, and I can write more about that later- the psycho scientists started to do surgeries with my brain, trying to up my IQ or something. They did it all wrong, and instead of upping my IQ, they disrupted the part of my brain that controls speech. I haven't been able to utter a word, or sing, since then.

All I could think was, _I can't sing. I can't even freaking talk!_ But obviously I couldn't tell them that, so I was stuck there, unable to move, unable to tell the crowd I couldn't sing. It got worse when a microphone magically appeared in front of me. Who ever was controlling this shindig was really trying to get to me.

One distinct voice yelled out "Come on! Sing already!", and with that, everyone started to join in. Every person had a separate voice now, yelling out their own symphony of hateful words. They came pummeling at me all at once, each voice like a knife, cutting at me, and causing its own pain as it hit me with full force. All I could do was to think, _I can't sing. I can't sing. I _can't_ sing! _And as if the crowd could hear my thoughts, the pain suddenly increased, each knife cutting a deeper, more painful wound from the next.

But I couldn't sing!

I couldn't take it any more. I started to cry. Tears spilled down my cheeks, and each tear caused the pain to intensify, which caused more tears. I don't know how, but I found my self on the floor of the stage, just laying there, covering my ears as if I could block out all the voices, and the pain would go away. But it didn't. The voices found a way to get into my head, and chant in there, giving me a massive headache on top of the rest of the hurting.

Someone started to call my name, _Shadow, Shadow. _It was far of, and just a whisper, but it made some of the pain go way, so I clung to it. _Shadow. _It slowly got louder, as I felt drawn to it. _Shadow, it's okay. I'm here now._

And I woke up with a start in my brother's arms, warm tears sliding down my face. I was drenched with sweat and my hair stuck to the back of my neck, my forehead, and my cheeks. Shade whispered soothing word in my ear, as he cradled me in his arms, and rocked me back and forth.

Just like another person used to do, so many years before. But her arms were soft, and assuring. Shade's arms were muscled, and strong. I definitely felt safer with Shade. He was always there, while she didn't try to stick around. I just hoped Shade would stay with me.

"I'll always be here to protect you, Shadow. I won't leave you like she left us. No matter what happens, I've got your back." My brother answered my thoughts. He can read my mind, after all. And right now, I was kind of thankful for that.

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So, I came up with that whole mute thing right after I published the first part of Shadow's Path. I'm hoping it's going to make this whole story just that much more interesting.

If anyone's confused about who "she" is- see last two paragraphs- , just wait and see. "She" will be explained in the upcoming future. R&R!


	3. Bacon, Cheezits, and Family

I am SOOOO sorry that I couldn't up-date sooner. I will try to up-date on a regular basis from now on- maybe once a week.

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A Shadow's Path

Chapter 2: Bacon, Cheez-its and Family

There is nothing like waking up in the morning to the smell of and sound of cooking bacon. It's just one of the greatest things I can think of. It makes me just that much less miserable when I also wake up to a good ole headache and that awful taste in my mouth. I moaned as I moved, and a pain shot through my head. I sighed, reaching up to rub my temples. Oh boy was I glad I could smell and hear that bacon.

I threw the sheets off of me. Ignoring my annoying headache, I jumped out of bed, and pulled on a fresh pair of shorts and a clean white t-shirt, (at least I hoped they were clean). Before walking out of my room I threw a glance at myself in the only mirror in the whole house. I have to admit, I'm not ugly, but I can't really say I'm pretty either. I guess the best adjective that I could describe my self as was plain. Sure, I was tall, and thin, strong, but not body builder muscular. My eyes, which were sort of an emerald green, were the only part of me that would catch someone's eye. My pale skin could not tan, no matter how much sun I got, and my hair…let me just tell you, the only thing I could do with it is to put it in my signature braid.

There was a light nock on the door, and I turned around to see Arrow, the oldest in our little house at eighteen, leaning against the door's frame. He was dressed in his usual flannel t-shirt and jeans. His light brown hair hung in wet strips around his face and dripped water on to my room's floor. A wet towel hung around his neck. But the first thing that would've caught your eye was the large brown wings that sprouted from his back.

Okay, pick up that jaw. Yes, I have wings too, and so does my brother and Shift, the final member of what we call our flock. As most of you can guess, wings _aren't_ natural. Real people did this to us. Real sick, psycho people that call themselves scientists. On top of the wings, some of us have other special powers, but I can add more on that later.

"Hey Shadow. Heard you had a rough night," Arrow said.

Being mute is hard. I can't have a normal conversation with someone other than my brother. As a little kid, it annoyed me that I couldn't talk with the other members of the flock. Eventually I taught myself and the rest of our little ragtag gang how to use American Sign Language through the internet- ah…what would I do without the internet? ASL has made my life so much easier.

"You know, just the usual nightmare. It's not that big of a deal," I signed. I looked at my self one more time- now noticing the dark crescents under my eyes- and tried to brush pass Arrow. He put out an arm to block my path.

"Shadow," I looked up at Arrow, who was a full head taller then me. His eyes shone with brotherly care. Even though Arrow wasn't my real brother, I knew he still cared about me like I was his little sister. And I would trust Arrow with my life. After all, he was our leader. "Are you absolutely sure you're okay, because we could talk."

I sighed. "I'm fine. I've gotten used to it."As you can read, nightmares aren't really foreign to me. For years I'd been trying to get rid of those awful images that my subconscious creates in forms of dreams. Most of the time it was of people dieing, or creepy creatures. Everyone in the flock blames it on the School. They know I was one of the most traumatized when it came to that.

Okay, since most of you out there are probably like what the hell is this crazy girl talking about, I'll clue you in. I was born at a lab in the place called the School. The wacko scientists- see above- decided, _Hey! Why not create mutant bird kids and torture them half to death and see what happens!_ And they did just that. My brother, Shade, and I were born with wings, but the wack jobs decided to put wings on two defenseless little four year olds that later grew to be Arrow, and Shift. Me, and the rest of the flock were forced to sleep in small dog cages, with minimal food, and go through cruel experiments.

Remember that little thing I told you last chapter? How I lost my voice to those psychos? Well, as you can imagine, that is _very_ traumatizing. I was just five years old!

"Shadow. Shadow? Shadow!" I looked up at Arrow, suddenly noticing he'd asked me something.

"What?"

Arrow looked at me for a second, than shook his head. "Never mind. It's not important." He gave me one last worried look, than he let me pass.

In the kitchen Shade was flipping one of his giant chocolate chip pancakes. Those were always my favorites.

"You like it best when the chocolate chips are really gooey." Shade commented as I went to sit at or run down kitchen table- the one that is all wobbly and needs a few books to keep it level.

_But not _too _gooey. _I amended. Like I wrote last chapter, Shade can read my mind. Not anyone else's, just mine. We call it our twin telepathy. But the weirdest thing about is that it's one way. Shade can read my mind, but I can't read his. I would be very annoyed by that, if it didn't work in my favor too. Having my brother around is so much easier when we come into contact with people who don't know ASL, so I generally accept him being in my head all the time.

Shade snorted as he flipped another gooey filled pancake. "Like I want to be in your head all the time. I don't voluntarily listen to you ramble on about the wonders of purple nail polish, or how cute puppies and kittens are," Shade commented. His green eyes, which were so like mine, glinted with mischief. I frowned, and threw a near by box of cereal at his head. He cleanly dodged it, letting the contents of the box spill on the floor.

"You better pick that up Shadow," Arrow said to me, putting on his "leader" face. I sighed but did as he said. I ignored Shade's delighted whistling as I scooped up the cereal and threw it away. "Was that our last box of cereal?" Arrow asked.

"Yep. And the last of the milk, bread, chocolate, and Cheez-it's." Shade told him. Arrow swung his head around to look at me.

"You ate all the Cheez-it's already!"

I shrugged. "They're addicting."

Arrow sighed. "I guess we're just going to have to go to town." Right then Shade's eyes lit up. "No flirting with the girls." Shade frowned. I smirked to myself.

There was a loud sound, like a door slamming, than Shift came into the room, her face red. Her black hair was now brown with something thick. She bore her eyes into each one of us, her brown irises flashing with bloodlust. "Who put mud into my shampoo." Shade's laugh was loud and maniacal. Shift's gaze went to Shade. "You." Shift launched herself at Shade, and started to chase him around the house. Arrow ran behind them, trying to stop Shift from killing my brother. Ever so often there was a loud crash, and Arrow would curse under his breath. Shaking my head, I went over to the counter, and grabbed up an oozing pancake. I took a big, messy bite, just as Shade ran past me and took a pancake himself. He winked as he left the room, probably going some were to hide from Shift, who would no doubt kill him as soon as she found his sorry little but.

_Yep. _I thought_. That's my family._

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At first Shadow's dialog was going to be italicized, but I thought I would get sick of that after a while, so I decided to use quotation marks instead. When Shadow's "talking" she's not really _talking._ Get it? No? Sorry then.

I hope everyone liked this chapter. _Please_ tell me your opinions. If there are any spelling/grammar mistakes I'd like to know- because I really suck at grammar and spelling. R&R

~Lizzie Lor


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